PULLMAN, Wash. -
FSN Northwest and Washington State University have announced an eight-year extension of their existing rights agreement that provides continued exposure for Cougar Athletics throughout the Northwest through the 2016-17 academic year. FSN will retain the exclusive rights to all available local events and ancillary programming.

In addition to the network's commitment to deliver live events for WSU football and basketball programs as well as Olympic sports, FSN will produce a 30-minute weekly show focusing on Cougar Athletics beginning this season. Cougars All-Access will provide fans a unique look at campus life for WSU's student athletes, delivering more in-depth, personal, innovative and exciting coverage of the Cougars than ever before.

"FSN Northwest is all about live local events and programs that showcase our region's impressive group of teams and universities, so this extension with Washington State was important for us to be able to continue to grow the quantity and quality of options we provide for the local sports fan," said Mark Shuken, President & CEO of Liberty Sports Group, parent company of FSN Northwest. "Washington State has been a valuable partner of FSN Northwest for a long time and as fans ourselves we're happy we'll continue to watch them on our network for years to come."

"FSN Northwest is a valuable and dedicated partner with Washington State University and being able to extend our affiliation with FSN Northwest through 2017 is a win-win situation for both WSU Athletics, the network and Cougar fans throughout the Pacific Northwest," WSU Director of Athletics Jim Sterk said. "This was a priority for WSU, our marketing partner ISP and FSN Northwest, and will result in increased coverage of Cougar Athletics in the coming years."

FSN and the Pacific-10 Conference have national agreements in place that run through 2011 for men's football and 2012 for men's basketball.

"ISP Sports is delighted to have been able to assist WSU in securing this extension with FSN Northwest, which will provide our fans with a greater number of live events and increased exposure for Cougar sports," said Pete Isakson, Assistant Vice President/General Manager, Washington State ISP Sports Network. "This has been a terrific partnership in the past and we see it as becoming even more valuable to WSU Athletics, FSN and ISP in the future."